Jake T. Austin on Wizards of Waverly Place and New Year's Eve

When Disney announced that Wizards of Waverly Place would disappear in 2012, fans were surprised—but Jake T. Austin, who played Selena Gomez's pesky little brother, was ready. "We're all excited for other projects," he says. "At the same time, we've got to remember what a cool experience working on that show was." Despite being on a hit series, Jake—who spent his Wizards years commuting between Los Angeles and New York City, where he attends public school—can still travel under the paparazzi radar. "I wasn't featured so prominently that my life changed dramatically," says the seventeen-year-old. "I didn't release an album or anything."

His next act is film-centric: Jake spent his summer shooting Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, where he stars as Huck opposite Super 8's Joel Courtney. And this month, the actor joins New Year's Eve's celeb-filled cast—with everyone from Jon Bon Jovi to Lea Michele—as native New Yorker Seth. "It was cool to play a character that had a lot of truth to it," he says. "He meets Hailey [Abigail Breslin] on New Year's Eve and has a thing with her." As for Jake, he'll spend the holiday with family and friends at his mom's house. "You gotta stay up and watch the ball drop!" he says, laughing.